Thunder battle back but drop Game 2 to go down 0-2, 120-111

SAN ANTONIO — It was coming. At some point, it was just going to come.

The Thunder fell behind by 22 in the second half, but there was absolutely no way they were going to lay down. This isn’t the kind of team that leaves something on the floor. They fight, they claw and they battle.

On the road with their backs to the wall in Game 2, Oklahoma City cut the lead to two possessions late in the fourth. They were within range of pulling off an unthinkable comeback. The margin for error was razor thin with stops, rebounds, loose balls, buckets and free throws all at a premium.

And they just didn’t have enough.

What it means is an 0-2 hole. What it means is the Thunder have to win four out of the next five games against the monster known as the San Antonio Spurs. What it means is that Game 3 is about as important as a Game 3 can get. What it means is the Thunder are backed into a corner and have to respond.

What it means is the dream of a title, the hope for a ring, is on life support.

I appreciated the way Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook approached their postgame presser because they didn’t do a lot of talking about the Spurs “holding serve” or any of that usual bullcrap. They were mad. They wanted not just one win in San Antonio, but two. And they came away with none.

“If you don’t know us by now, we’ve been a resilient group that bounces back,” said Kevin Durant. “Tough to go down 0-2. We didn’t come in here thinking that, okay, they’re supposed to get these two at home. We wanted to come in here and win. We didn’t do that.”

Said Russell Westbrook: “Yeah, same thing Kevin said. We’re not here to try to make it a close game or try to make it a good fight. We’re trying to win. We lost tonight.”

Obviously the comeback was valiant and nice, but it was unnecessary. Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like this game was lost in the first five minutes of the second quarter. The Thunder played a sluggish opening 12 minutes falling behind 10-2 early and 28-22 at the end of the first. Scott Brooks stubbornly stuck to his guns bringing in his second unit and left them in three minutes too long. I realize Westbrook and Durant need a second to breathe at some point, but with a game hanging in the balance and a Spurs run inevitable, I don’t think you can leave any rounds in the chamber.

With Westbrook and Durant sitting, the Spurs outscored the Thunder 14-7 the opening five minutes of the second, building a 13-point lead that left OKC looking up at them for the rest of the night. During that stretch, Derek Fisher attempted four of OKC’s nine shots. The offense went out of whack, and the Spurs torched the Thunder. OKC has a good bench, but it’s not good enough to hang with the Spurs head-to-head.

Durant was cooking in the opening quarter. He scored 12 on 5-7 shooting, hit two 3s and had the look of a guy ready to go off for 40. But he sat down those first five minutes of the second and only took three shots and scored two points. Like I said, you can’t play him 48. But 45? Yeah.

Then the other question mark is why Fisher played the entire fourth. Yes, that big 3-pointer was always in the bag for Fisher, but with the Thunder needing stops and rebounds on nearly every possession, having Fisher in the game hurt the Thunder on the defensive end and glass. My question, as it’s been for a lot of the season in this situation, is why not Daequan Cook? He’s a better rebounder, an equal defender and can space the floor as well as Fisher. I understand resisting Thabo, though I think he’s the right call. But Fisher isn’t the answer in the smallball lineup.

But these are the questions you’re left asking when you lose games. Clearly something went wrong, otherwise you wouldn’t be on the wrong end of the scoreboard. The Thunder got worked by the Spurs’ magical ball movement as Tony Parker completely torched OKC for the billionth time. Don’t forget: The Spurs are damn good. Damn good. It was going to take some near perfect basketball all along for OKC to win this series and so far, they’ve been spotty. They’ve played really good basketball, and they’ve played some average basketball, which is what the Spurs make you pay for.

Game 2 became massively large the second the Spurs completed a fourth quarter comeback in Game 1. And I get the sickening feeling that Game 1 meltdown might haunt the Thunder over the next four months. But even more than that, I think giving away home court advantage the final three weeks of the season might even more. Hard to imagine these opening two games going this way if the Thunder had been playing at home.

Alas, there’s no going back. Lessons learned, and all that crap. The series isn’t done and there’s still time. But the hill to climb just turned into a mountain.

NOTES:

Scott Brooks was asked if he had ever considered using the Hack-A-Shaq strategy on Tiago Splitter before the game. He said, “It’s an option that we have. We’ve thought about it.” Well, the Thunder broke it out late in the third quarter fouling Splitter intentionally. He hit five of 10 from the stripe, making it a break even thing. But I think it was extremely smart because it slowed the pace of the game down and took the Spurs out of that ridiculous offensive rhythm they had going. In that situation, it was an extremely wise choice to make.

Said Brooks after the game on the strategy: “It changed the tempo a bit. I mean, they were fast tonight. The ball was just all over the floor with quick passes, passes that were right in their shooting pockets, and it kind of threw their rhythm out a little. He stepped up and made [five] of them. He did better than his playoff percentage. But if on occasion we have an opportunity to do it again, we will.”

Of course this is a Gregg Popovich strategy to which he said, “It was a good move. I might’ve done it … I’ve never tried that before. I think it’s a really lousy thing to do. It’s unsportsmanlike. But no, it’s a good move. If there’s a reason to do it and they felt there was a good reason to do it, and they did it. So it was a good move.”

The Spurs execution is brilliant. The drive and kick is as deadly as anything, but it’s only as successful as the man making the shot. To which the Spurs shooters do with great regularity. The way you stop it though? It starts at the point of attack. Penetration. Once you let a Spur ballhandler into the paint, it’s simply a matter of hoping whoever he passes it to misses.

We’ve actually seen this game before. It was strikingly similar to the last regular season game in OKC. Big deficit, mighty Thunder comeback, Spurs daggers to end it.

Other than Fisher, it seems Scott Brooks might’ve found a good fourth quarter lineup. I liked the Westbrook-Not Fisher-Harden-Durant-Ibaka group. It worked.

Yep, Perk was horrible. I tried to warn everybody. Perk made his money against the Lakers. That’s what he’s paid to do. But he’s not a finisher, not an offensive threat and not someone that defends the pick-and-roll well. Unless he’s checking Duncan in the post, he’s not a very valuable player on the floor.

It was pretty rough to be in the building tonight. I just feel like saying that.

Late in the third as OKC made a small run, Pop called timeout and just absolutely blitzed Tony Parker, who of course was playing an incredible game. One of the many things that separates Pop — he can do that. Parker was playing as good an NBA game I’ve seen all year and he misses one defensive assignment and Pop completely lights him up.

Peter Rabbit did the Spurs halftime show and was not wearing a Thunder jersey. TRAITOR.

Ibaka had some issues in the paint. He could’ve, and should’ve, scored 15-20 points. Instead he fumbled away passes and rebounds and finished with eight on 3-11.

I’d like to sit here and gripe about Westbrook’s defense on Parker, but really, what are you supposed to do? At a certain point if a guy is going to make absolutely everything, there’s just not a ton you can do to combat it. Russ played him hard, played him tough. Parker just beat him.

I don’t really believe in momentum toward Game 3, but I do appreciate the way the team fought. They could’ve sort of laid down, but they busted it. They played freaking hard. They were relentless and didn’t let up. That’s something I think they can take with them.

Theory: Possibly the reason the Spurs give up the fewest free throws in the league is because they aren’t called for the fouls they commit. I know that sounds sour, but sheesh, they get away with a whole lot of contact.

James Harden was outstanding. He finished with 30 on 10-13 shooting and got to the line 13 times.

Really, the Thunder’s Big 3 were all great. Durant with 31. Westbrook 27. Harden 30. Normally when those three play that well it’s more than enough to win. Normally when you score 111 points, it means we’re getting a Cole Aldrich Celebratory Dunk. The culprit tonight was the shoddy defense that allowed 120 points on 55.1 percent shooting.

Perk: “You cannot make a statement with a loss. We did not make a statement, we were just playing catch-up. That was not making a statement. Making a statement is winning the game.”

PLEASE-Someone help me with the name(s) of the available coach(s) that we could hire that have a proven track record of success against the Spurs and/or Pop. I would like to know the names(s) so I can start advocating for this person. I'm really having trouble with this.

I think were all making some crazy suggestions just because were being beat by a team playing as close to perfect as possible. Like royce mentioned, parker made everything, and that dagger that manu hit was just ridiculous. Lets be honest, we are all spoiled to be fans of a team that we have watched grow up together and that has 3 bonafide all stars and possibly a 4th in ibaka all under the age of 23, plus a coach thats been here the whole time and is still learning. We often say were the best bounce back team in basketball, and we reserve the right to say that based on the evidence. IF we lose to the spurs this year, we will bounce back next year and our guys will continue to work as hard as anybody in the league. Are we really ready to give up on Ibaka because of one bad offensive game, what he does on defense is huge for this team. (Perk is a whole different story as much as i appreciate his low post 1 on 1 defense) But we have all seen the signs of what Ibaka may be able to do offensively as he continues to grow. I think its also possible brooks has continued to stick with his Iso based offense because we have 3 of the best iso players in the league. And for those who are saying that he has improved nothing as a coach, how about defensive rotations? because those look a lot better this year than they did last. I think next year the ball movement will improve dramatically, brooks knows that and i think our team knows that, this is an extremely smart and hardworking group of guys. Anyone remember the ball movement in that miami heat game a month or so ago? Shows this team is plenty capable. Lost in the potential we all see on the horizon is the time it takes to grow and gain experience. Lets continue to support our squad, while we know they will continue to work their asses off for us. In the meantime we can all dream about when our core 4 is 25 or 26. Who gon stop us heeeh?

I feel so much better about our chances after hearing from Grant Long on the Morning Animal today! He said we are right where we want to be, and that he predicts we win the next THREE in a row, which will give us homecourt, and then go on to win the series. Yay Grant! I love the voice of reason. Not a homer at all!

Per Synergy: Cook as an overall defender - .81 PPP against (126th), .72 against in iso,

Fisher overall - .92 PPP against (360th in the league), .76 against in iso.

Cook is clearly the better defender, clearly the better rebounder, and the better shooter (shot better from 3 during the season). He's the better player period. Fisher has shot better over an 11 game sample in the playoffs, great. Getting yo yo'd in and out of the lineup can't exactly be helping Cook. How he gets yanked out, as a better overall player when he misses a 3 or 2 but Fisher can't hit one and plays the whole 4th quarter is beyond me. The ONLY tangible thing Fisher provides is hitting open shots and he didn't last night, yet he played almost 30 minutes. He can be "experienced leadership guy" in practice, we're trying to win games here.

And our best on the ball defender (Ivey, who harassed Parker earlier in the season) is getting splinters on the bench while Parker is going nuts. Is this alone why we may not make the Finals, of course not. But I'd like a coach smart enough to adjust his lineups according to who he's playing against. Perk made his money against the Lakers, he's useless against the Spurs. Clearly we need a coach with enough clout to recognize this and be able to sit certain guys without a little bit. Scotty ain't it. If a more talented team is getting beat and the effort is not really questioned well.........sounds like coaching to me.

For all out there saying the Spurs are the better team, do you know what that really means? It means the Spurs have Popovich and we have Brooks. Because we happen to have the better players, but unfortunately we have the worse coach and that makes the Thunder the lesser team. Think abou that. Think about how Popovich can get a bunch on nonames like Neal, Green, Leonard etc to perform and make clutch shots, while our rookie coach can't even figure out how to get Durant open when we have two of the best slashers in the leage in Westbrooks and Harden. Also when the opposition sticks us for 120 points it's a no brainer that Sefolosha should be in the game but no, I guess Brooks has to think about that a little more.

I love what Perk said about making a statement. However, I'm hoping that the one thing the come back did is caused SAS to play harder and hopefully wore them down a little bit. Perhaps OKC can tucker them out.

What really drove me nuts about playing Fisher in the 4th was that we didn't really need his shooting/spacing the floor (which, I presume, is the only logical reason he's in there). We were scoring pretty much at will at the basket, and Fisher had 3 fouls and a couple gettable defensive rebounds he missed. I understand playing him when he's hot (game 1, leave him in all you want), but when he's 1 for 9 entering the 4th and clangs another.. I think it's time to go with Thabo - he could still space the floor on offense and exponentially help our D.

It's important to note that we lost because we couldn't stop them, not because Fisher missed shots. Obviously it's easy to say this now after the game, but every time we got it to within 6 or 7 it felt like we were just one stop away.... and couldn't get it.. It just felt so stubborn to me that the only time our "defensive specialist" only played 14 seconds in the 4th, once James fouled out. It seems like every Thunder game, the opponent's "defensive specialist" is draped all over KD the entire 4th quarter.

Am I crazy to think a zone could actually help stop all the dribble penetration that we are giving the Spurs? That's how they are getting such great open shots. You could leave Perk on the bench with Ibaka and Durant on the bottom of the zone with 3 wing defenders up top.

Defense has to be priority one. How does Sefalosha only get 10 minutes and Fisher gets 24 (and goes 2-11)? Ivey needs to get Fishers minutes. Ivey played Parker better than Westbrook earlier this year. He needs to get Fishers minutes. The rotation should consist of Westbrook, Harden, KD, Sef, Ibaka, Collison, Ivey and either Cook or Fisher should get the few remaining minutes but neither should be in a position where they have to guard Parker or Ginobli. We most definitely can't throw Cook, Fisher and Mohammad out on the court at the same time. That was ridiculous. I can't understand why Fisher is playing so much for the life of me. Even in game one he score 13 points but he just cripples the defense. His experience doesn't help him on defense because he's just too slow. We have to keep them out of the lane and we can't do that with Perkins, Mohammad, Fisher or Cook getting big minutes. Brooks has to figure this out or we're going to get swept.

Ibaka 3/11. Fish. 2/11. No bueno. I am not upset about the number of shots, but they have to shoot better than 25% or worse.

RW 10/24. Tough one to call because I would guess 4 or 5 of those were last second desperation hoists and probably 4 or 5 of them were ill-advised, BUT makable shots. So this is tough to quantify. Again our offensive system is weak and when it fails it typically falls on RW.

One thing that disappointed me about DT last night... since my cable was out I was drawn to the threads and it was disgusting. People on here cussing at brooks, the refs, calling for whole sale changes.

To those where in the game thread last night. you should be ashamed. Knee-jerking and lambasting our team for every single thing that didn't go right. Seriously. I expected more from this group.

you want to complain? You want to give your advice? Then do that in a constructive manner. The time for debating whole sale changes and coaching extensions and amnestying Perk and what not will come later. But right now lets focus our energy on support OUR TEAM and looking at what they can do to improve.

I have been so pissed at Brooks since the beginning of the season because the way we got beat by Dallas, it was obvious we needed more of an offensive system and yet when the year started it was the same 1on1 heroics iso plays. Brooks did nothing during the lockout. I doubt that he'll ever have a system for the Thunder. Dream on but as for me, I'm convinced we need a new coach.

@Lokedogg Yay for reasonable thinking, gold star. I can't even read these boards during the games because the reactions are just ridiculous. This an amazing team of crafty veterans with one of the best coaches of all time. The thunder have yet to play a complete game, but we get at least two more shots at this thing

I liked the small lineup we had yesterday in the 4th where we just switched on the PnR and/or showed hard. I feel like they don't have any iso players so with our length and athleticism, we can switch with impunity.

Perk against Bynum was great--not so in this series. The team has to be sleeked down in mobility to have a chance against what San Antonio does offensively. This isn't like previous traditonal San Antonio teams--they're like a greyhound. Pop morphed his offensive philosophy with this team...now Brooks needs to slightly morph his. I agree--play KD at the four and go small. Perk should probably be in that 12-14 range for this series.

Even in game 1 when Fisher hit those shots he gave up more than he scored. In the first half when he came in the he's guarding Leonard because of the matchups and the first thing that happens is Leonard gets an offensive rebound. Then he gets another a couple trips later with a layup. Next trip Loenard hits a 3, so they move Fisher to guard Neal and what happens? Neal hits a couple shots in a row. Parker comes in for Neal and Parker goes past Fisher a couple times in a row and sets up teammates for layups. Then of course he was in for most of the 39 point 4th quarter. He's a huge liability on defense.

I'm not nearly as dead set against Fisher as everyone else but if you guys want to try Sefolosha, I have no problem with that. Better defender, better rebounder...Just don't tell me Cook. I find the 'I want Cook' stuff lol hilarious

Silly, ThunderBelize . . . are you just now discovering this? The game threads are kind of the underbelly of DT. It's a great place to be if we're winning--not so much if things aren't going our way. It's kind of like a stream-of-consciousness take on the game for better or worse. Even for our more even-tempered regulars, constructive and respectful is a tall order in the heat of the game. Just don't take anything too seriously there.

@SB718 2 thoughts on that... #1 I really do believe harden and Ibaka both would be willing to take a discount. And while I truly believe that harden will become the best 2 guard in the league within the next couple of years I dont think hes earned a max contract yet.

Same line up except replace Fisher with Sefolosha. We would have won the game with Sefolosha instead on Fisher. This guy can guard Bryant let alone Ginobli and we would have more rebound, passing lane interferences etc.

This isn't the Mavericks or the Lakers. He hit a few shots in game 1 but he can't guard the spurs. He got abused in game 1 on d and again last night. Who cares if he hits a few shots if he can't cover anyone.

@ThunderChick2010 I usually prefer to 'watch' the game than watch a thread, so last night was my first taste of the down side of DT game threads... It's a speed bag of unfiltered criticisms and over reactions.

I'm sure Parker and Ginobli will score points but to allow 39 points in the 4th quarter or 120 points in a playoff game, come on, that's insane for a team that prides itself on defense. Brooks is a total inapt mess right now. How we're not playing our best perimeter defender (Sefolosha) is beyond me. With a line up of KD, WB, Ibaka, Harden and Sef, the Spurs can switch all they want they will always end up with a long fast athletic guy in front of them. But Fisher!? It's not the Spurs that are killing us, it's Brooks!

I think you guys are missing the fact that the Spurs run so many picks (many illegal but they aren't getting called) that whomever you put on them doesn't matter. They are going to make you switch because if you try to fight over the screen, Ginobili and Parker will light you up. They are too skilled to be given a step...

Yeah, last year I wanted Cook over Sefolosha in the Dallas series and feel I was right about that. Cook was playing great at the time, Sefo wasn't 100% and Sefo ended up on Stevenson a lot which Cook could easily cover. But against this Spurs team and given that Sefolosha is healthy and Cook has been downright putrid this season, you can't play Cook significant time in this series.

@FF_pickups Were we a plus 9 because of his 2-11 or because of his awful defense? We were a plus 9 because Harden, KD and Russ were scoring. We would have been a plus 15+ if we had a guy in there that could help stop the Spurs. He had absolutely nothing to do with his plus 9.

Trackbacks

[…] Royce Young of Daily Thunder: “I appreciated the way Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook approached their postgame presser because they didn’t do a lot of talking about the Spurs “holding serve” or any of that usual bullcrap. They were mad. They wanted not just one win in San Antonio, but two. And they came away with none.” […]

[…] The Daily Thunder’s Royce Young suggests throwing Daequan Cook into the pot, which I agree is a serviceable upgrade over Fisher. But Sefolosha is the rightful owner of these minutes. He’s played alongside this team’s core for three healthy seasons. He knows the system, as well as his teammates tendencies. It makes too much sense. You know what doesn’t make sense? This clip: […]

[…] Royce Young of Daily Thunder: “I appreciated the way Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook approached their postgame presser because they didn’t do a lot of talking about the Spurs “holding serve” or any of that usual bullcrap. They were mad. They wanted not just one win in San Antonio, but two. And they came away with none.” […]